Take a truly magical mystery tour with this sparkling compendium of magic and trickeryfrom medieval thaumaturgies to 20th-century showmen. Featuring hundreds of rarely seen vintage posters, photographs, handbills, and engravings, The Magic Book follows this special performing art from the 1400s to the 1950s. Magic has enchanted humankind for millennia, evoking terror, laughter, shock, and amazement. Once persecuted as heretics and sorcerers, magicians have always been conduits to a parallel universe of limitless possibility—whether invoking spirits, reading minds, or inverting the laws of nature by sleight of hand. Long before science fiction, virtual realities, video games, and the Internet, the craft of magic was the most powerful fantasy world man had ever known. As the pioneers of special effectsthroughout history, magicians have never ceased to mystify us by making the impossible possible. This book celebrates more than 500 years of the stunning visual culture of the world’s greatest magicians. Featuring more than 750 rarely seen vintage posters, photographs, handbills, and engravingsas well as paintings by Hieronymus Boschand Bruegel among others, The Magic Booktraces the history of magic as a performing artfrom the 1400s to the 1950s. Combining sensational images with incisive text, the book explores the evolution of the magicians’ craft, from medieval street performers to the brilliant stage magicians who gave rise to cinematic special effects, from the 19th century’s golden age of magic to groundbreaking daredevils like Houdini and the early 20th century’s vaudevillians. The authors Mike Caveneyis a writer, collector, professional magician, and the publisher of over 50 books on the theory, practice, and history of magic. His biographical works include Kellar’s Wonders(2003) with Bill Miesel, and Carter the Great(1995). An avid collector and performer for over four decades, he has appeared onstage or on TV in more than 20 countries. Jim Steinmeyeris the author of many books on magic history and practice, including Los Angeles Times best seller Hiding the Elephant(2004) and The Glorious Deception(2006). He has created deceptions featured by magicians such as Doug Henning, David Copperfield, and Siegfried and Roy, and critically acclaimed illusions for Broadway hitsMary Poppins, Beauty and the Beast, and Into the Woods. The contributing author Ricky Jay, who has contributed the introduction to this book, is one of the world's great sleight of hand artists, and a distinguished actor, historian, and best-selling author. His Learned Pigs &,amp, Fireproof Womenand Jay’s Journal of Anomalieswere both New York Times",Notable Books of the Year,", and he defined the terms of his art for The Cambridge Guide to American Theatreand Encyclopedia Britannica. The editor Noel Danielis a graduate of Princeton University and a former Fulbright Scholar to Berlin. She earned an MA in London and was director of a photography gallery before editing books. Her TASCHEN publications include Kay Nielsen's A Thousand and One Nights andEast of the Sun and West of the Moon, The Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm, The Fairy Tales of Hans Christian Andersen, Wintertime Tales, Magic, and The Circus.